In Your Place
by Red and Dust
Summary: Two strange men plot Gaara's downfall, but their plans and technique go horribly awry, and now Gaara and Lee find themselves in a troubling situation. Genfic.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer** : This is Naruto fanfiction. As in, it's based off something that isn't mine. Naruto and co. belong to Kishimoto. Please don't hurt me.

**Notes**: This fic takes place just after the events in chapter 138 of the manga. For clarification, this is after the Sand siblings have returned to Suna – and right after Naruto has left to train with Jiraiya. ALSO – this fic is a genfic, so don't go looking for any real pairings or anything beyond possible small mentions.

This is also something of a plaything of mine. It's unbetaed, with chapters thrown out whenever I finish one. So let's see how this goes.

_PROLOGUE_

In the dark of night, sitting scrunched up in one corner of an abandoned shed, two young ninja sat over a scroll. It lay spread out before them, letters and symbols glowing faintly. It was the only light the two rather paranoid men had to go by.

"Are you sure this will work?" asked one, his voice a rusty squeak. He was quickly silenced by the other, who said nothing but performed several hand signs over the illuminated parchment. He then slammed one hand palm down onto the paper, and the whole thing flashed brightly, momentarily blinding both men.

When the light faded, it faded completely, leaving them in the dark once again. There was no noise for several moments but their own breathing, and hardly that – for both men held their breath in anticipation.

"That's it," the second finally said, rolling up the scroll. He pulled a small flashlight from his pocket, lighting up the area near his partner's feet. "The body-switch technique should be complete." He stood, listening for any movement other than their own and hearing none. "Good work, Kirin. He should be helpless now."

The first man, Kirin, stood as well, brushing dust from his pants. "We'll know for sure," he said, "once we get a look at Mina."

"Right."

It wasn't that long of a walk from the shed to their shared apartment, and they moved briskly, darting through the shadows cast by the full moon. There was no one about that time of night – not in this area of town, anyway. Really, they had very little to fear. A guilty conscience, however, can play havoc on a person's mind.

They entered through a back window, left unlocked for their return, and moved quickly and as one to the front kitchen. Kirin flipped on the light switch, revealing a large black cat lying caged upon the table.

The cat hardly seemed to mind that it was caged, and it turned to greet them, tilting back its head and giving a soft 'mew.' Both men stopped dead in their tracks. Kirin sputtered, while his room mate turned upon him with a hardened glare.

"I thought you said she'd be unconscious?"

The other man continued to sputter until he could find his voice. "Sh-she was supposed to be! Her and Gaara should have both lost consciousness at the same time in order for the switching technique to be successful…!"

--

Sabaku no Gaara sat at his usual place on the balcony just outside his room. He watched the moon in silence, as deep within him Shukaku stirred. He cringed, fighting another urge to simply let the monster loose. It was always the most difficult with the full moon. The demon's power was at its strongest then.

All at once his cringe became a choking gasp. Arms wrapped about himself as something painful and foreign shook his whole being. This wasn't Shukaku. It never hurt like this to let the demon free. His sand stirred around him, finding no cause of the danger and thus unable to block it.

If asked later, Gaara would have described the feeling as something akin to being torn from himself. As the feeling stopped, the world turned black, and he collapsed silently onto the balcony.

--

The two men watched the cat for several long moments more. It was becoming more and more aggravating, just watching her groom herself casually, not giving a damn about either of them.

"I don't understand, Kazu," Kirin muttered to his room mate. "I got everything it asked for…" A hair from each body. He had risked his life getting Gaara's hair from a shed sash. It had been red and everything. Very few citizens of the sand village had hair matching that color. And the other one…

He glanced over at the black cat again. She'd turned away from them, apparently more interested in a floating spec of dust just beyond her reach outside the cage bars. He'd collected one of her shed hairs. There was no doubt that it had been hers. Unless…

He paled suddenly. While collecting the hair he needed from Gaara's sash, he had been startled by a sound just outside the door. In the process, he'd lost the cat hair that he thought he'd tucked so safely into his wristband to take to Kazu immediately after. Looking down at the white sash, he'd seen another black hair and had been certain it was the one he'd just lost.

What if he'd been wrong?

"It must have been a faulty technique," he muttered, not willing to tell his friend of his mistake just yet. If he was lucky, that was all it really was. Just a false technique that never would have worked to begin with. It wouldn't be the first time.

Kazu snorted, still glaring at the cat. "You're a worthless excuse for a partner," he growled.

"Yeah… I know."

--

To the east, in the not so distant Country of Fire, two ninjas in green moved at top speed along the forest floor.

"Gai-sensei!" said the first, only slightly smaller than his companion but otherwise very similar in appearance. "I see our objective!"

"Nice work, Lee!" came the reply.

Leaning up against a log, just a few meters away, a girl sat with two boxed meals in her lap. Tenten had fallen into a light sleep an hour before, leaving it up to her team mates to get to their food before the animals did. Gai's shout snapped her awake rather abruptly, and she had to stop herself from shrieking in her newly wakened state as her two male companions came to a grinding halt just in front of her.

"You two are late," she muttered dryly, handing them each a box. They accepted them gratefully, dropping heavy packs to the ground and sitting on either side of her.

"We are?" Lee appeared genuinely confused. "I did not know we had a set schedule, Gai-sensei. I could have been faster."

Gai merely laughed. "We didn't, Lee. Tenten here merely likes to keep us on our toes."

Tenten rolled her eyes and stood up, heading for her bedroll just a few steps away. "Yeah, that's it. Hey, I'm going to bed. Try to keep it down, all right?"

"We will be quieter than mice!" came Lee's enthusiastic and already whispered reply. This just caused her to roll her eyes again. "We would not want to keep you from-"

The boy's voice immediately caught in his throat. His boxed meal fell from his hands as his eyes widened, and he fell to his side, shaking. The other two were immediately up and at his side, frantically asking him what was wrong.

Lee couldn't answer – could only feel himself being pulled apart. His arms wrapped about his middle as though he could hold it all in. He felt Gai's arms cover his own as he was pulled into the man's lap, his cries not quite reaching his ears.

Then everything was silent as he lost consciousness.


	2. Ch1 Rather Disturbing

**Disclaimer:** Yes, Naruto is mine. And if you believe that, I have a bridge in Indonesia I'm trying to sell off real cheap.

**Notes:** Sorry for the shortness of my chapters. I've been out of the fic writing for a bit, and this helps me get things out faster. Otherwise I have tendencies to get stuck on a long chapter and you won't hear anything from me for a long time…

--

--

_CHAPTER ONE – Rather Disturbing_

It was to frantic cries that Lee also woke.

He would have thought himself in the same place, with the same voices vying for his attention, if he hadn't almost immediately noticed a difference in the tones of them. There were still two voices – one male and one female – but the girl's voice had deepened, seemed older somehow, while the male voice sounded younger and somewhat more quirky. Different voices meant different people. Different people meant no Gai-sensei and Tenten.

That bit of information was all Lee needed to have him prying his eyes open, squinting against the early morning light.

He was lying on his back, he realized, and the two people calling his name were leaning over him. They were mere silhouettes against the sky, unrecognizable, and he tried harder to get them into focus.

As they realized he was awake, the two voices quieted down, one hushing the other.

His eyes adjusted slowly, so he let them wander the area. This wasn't the same place he'd blacked out in, that much was certain. There were no trees in sight. Neither was it a room in Konoha's hospital. He sat up quickly in surprise, only to fall back again.

Something was very off.

His body didn't feel right. The mass, the proportions… something wasn't as it should be. He felt at a loss for balance, and he was more careful as he tried to rise a second time. The figures above him moved abruptly as though they were going to offer help, but then stopped themselves.

His hands scraped against something grainy, and he glanced downwards. Sand. Why was he lying in sand?

"Gaara," he heard the girl ask. "Are you all right?"

Gaara? Lee looked around, trying to catch sight of the red-headed Sand-nin, but seeing no one aside from the two others already with him. Though, if Gaara was there, that would certainly explain the sand.

Turning back, he realized his vision had adjusted enough to see his visitors clearly. He blinked, immediately recognizing one. "T-Temari-san?" he asked. Immediately afterwards, he slapped a hand over his own mouth, eyes widening. He didn't even sound like himself.

His question seemed to surprise Temari as well. She sat back from him slightly, blinking equally wide eyes and looking generally startled. Her companion looked between the two of them worriedly, and he muttered "…San?" as though it was unusual for him to add such an honorific.

Lee turned his eyes to the young man. He was taller, of a sturdier build than himself, with a prominent nose and dark brown hair mussed every which way. Unlike Temari, who was dressed and ready for the day, this boy appeared to have woken up not long before. He was, in fact, still dressed in worn black pajamas. Noticing Lee's attention upon him, he offered an awkward sort of smile. There was something familiar about him, but Lee couldn't place it.

"Gaara?" the boy asked, smile fading into another worried look.

And there it was again. For a second time Lee twisted his head around, trying to catch a glimpse of the other boy anywhere nearby and still seeing nothing. "Where…?"

"You seem to have passed out on the balcony," Temari answered quickly, mistaking the meaning to his question. "Do you remember what happened?"

The balcony? That was ridiculous. He'd passed out in the woods. Hadn't he?

Well, if he was that far removed from where he'd originally been, then perhaps there had been other circumstances in between that had led him to this current predicament. In that case, he supposed he _didn't_ remember what had happened. Had he been drunk? He certainly didn't feel like he had. All he could do was shake his head and hope to get some answers from these two.

His visitors glanced at each other again. The situation obviously had them worried. Lee only wished he could help, but he himself was clueless.

"Why don't we get you inside," the brown-haired boy said, offering Lee a hand. As he reached out to take it, something flashed in the other boy's eyes, and his free hand went for Lee's throat. Before he could block it himself, he found his vision obscured by a wall of sand, and he heard rather than saw the other boy get thrown back.

"Kankuro!" Temari called out, somewhat panicked. "What were you trying to do?"

The sand receded, and Lee could see the other boy sprawled against the balcony rail looking baffled. The girl's words finally made him understand why his face had seemed familiar. He'd never seen Gaara's brother Kankuro without his hood and make-up.

"Well, I thought…" Kankuro appeared slightly embarrassed about his actions now, "I thought he might be an imposter."

Temari seemed to consider what he said, looking Lee over again. "But the sand…"

"Yeah," her brother finished for her. "It has to be him."

Lee glanced from one to the other and back again, equally confused. "I am sorry…" he said sheepishly. "I am not sure what is going on."

"That makes all of us," murmured Kankuro, earning him another glare from his sister. He ignored it, standing once more and offering his hand to Lee a second time. The was a pause before the younger boy accepted it, but when he did he was simply pulled to his feet as he had expected to be from the start. He swayed only a moment, and was quickly straightened by the other boy's hands on his shoulders.

The feeling of something being off came back with a vengeance now. As Temari stepped closer to join them, he began to see why. Somehow he'd gotten smaller. He didn't recall being so much shorter than the girl the last time they'd met. How odd. He checked the ground. Perhaps she was standing on something…

It was at that point that he noticed it. His clothing – it wasn't the light and comfortable spandex he was so used to. This cloth was heavier, and there were several layers of it. And it was red. Dark red. He never wore that color red. His eyes traveled upwards, to the sash, to the leather harness. These weren't his at all. In fact, these were…

"Gaara's…" he whispered out loud. The two siblings watched him worriedly, occasionally glancing at each other and back again.

"What?" Temari asked.

Lee looked up at both of them. They seemed to find every expression on his face startling. "These are Gaara's clothes," he explained.

Blinking all around.

"Yeeeaah…" Kankuro answered slowly, wondering when his brother had started speaking in third person. "Those are yours, Gaara."

"Mine…?" he asked. He could only imagine how silly he looked at that moment, utterly baffled beyond reason as he was. The voice, the height, the clothes… not his own. "Ah…" he said softly. "I understand. I am dreaming." He backed away from them slowly, turning to face the building behind them.

There he was brought up short again. In front of him was a sliding glass doorway, and in the glass he caught sight of his own reflection. Or rather, he caught sight of Gaara's reflection, for that's what it was. Before him he saw only Gaara, and the boy moved as he did, dressed in the same clothes as he was. "This is not right…" he whispered.

"Kankuro-san! Temari-san!" he spun around, his cries so sudden and unexpected that both siblings jumped back at least a foot, throwing their arms up in warding off gestures. "This is not right! I am not Gaara! It is me, Rock Lee!"

There was silence after this. Kankuro and Temari stared at each other again, the worry in their faces only increasing. "That's it," the former said. "Our brother is delusional. I'm getting Baki."

--

Gaara was sleeping.

He couldn't explain why he was sleeping, or why he was allowing himself to sleep, or why the demon Shukaku wasn't tearing through his soul at that very moment. He simply knew that he hadn't felt that comfortable in a very long time, and he wasn't about to move if he could help it.

Of course, the other voices in the room weren't helping him rest at all.

"I'm telling you I've had him checked over several times already. There's nothing physically wrong with him."

"So you're saying my Lee has some sort of mental distress? Is that it?"

"I can't say, Gai. Everything registers normal – chackra levels, vital signs, brain activity… Are you sure he wasn't simply exhausted?"

There was a moment of silence.

"I… suppose it's possible that Lee was so intent upon training to strengthen himself that he ignored all signs of weariness… Oh, Lee. You're such a determined boy!"

"…Lee?"

This last voice was softer – a girl's voice – and it was much closer as well. It was loud enough to rouse Gaara from slumber, which caused him quite a bit of annoyance. He opened his eyes, slowly, and turned upon the girl at his bedside with a harsh glare.

She seemed quite taken back by this. "So you're awake," she said, frowning.

Gaara said nothing, but raised himself into a sitting position in order to get a better look at where he was. A hospital? And if he recognized it correctly, this was a hospital in Konoha.

What had happened while he was out?

"LEE!" That shout was the only warning Gaara had before he was suddenly attacked by something large and very green. Well, it wasn't so much an attack as it was a humungous bear hug, but to him they were both the same. He squirmed in the person's grip, the physical contact causing him to grit his teeth in discomfort.

Then he stopped, falling loose from his former stiff position. This was an odd feeling, this hug. Where was the thin skin of sand in between him and this man? In fact… where was his sand at all?

Was this what a dream was like? He'd heard they could be surreal.

Even so. One didn't just freely hug Sabaku no Gaara. "Get off," he rasped, having to attempt at physically removing the man's arms without the sand to do it for him.

He was released quite suddenly. Gai stepped back, a frown to match Tenten's set on his face. "Lee?" he asked, at once all business. "Are you all right."

Gaara glanced around. Seeing Rock Lee nowhere in sight, he turned back to Gai with a short "What?"

"I asked if you were all right, Lee." The man's expression became worried. If he started crying, Gaara made up his mind to slug him then and there.

"My name isn't Lee," growled Gaara in a deep and twisted version of Lee's voice. "My name is Sabaku no Gaara. You will tell me what's going on now, or I will rip a confession out of you."

…**to be continued…**


End file.
